Legislation signed this month by Gov. Jerry Brown requires California’s dairy industry to answer for its contribution to global warming by making a 40 percent cut in methane emissions in coming years. The gas, which heats the atmosphere 20 times faster than carbon dioxide, comes from the butts and burps of bovines. One U.N. report blames livestock, which has largely escaped climate regulation, for 14.5 percent of the planet’s heat-trapping gases, as much as planes, trains and automobiles combined.

California legislators have approved a bill targeting cow flatulence and manure, which lawmakers blame for releasing greenhouse gases. The legislation aims to reduce methane emissions related to manure to 40 percent below 2013 levels by 2030. Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) authored the bill, which passed shortly before the end of the legislative session. Lara agreed to a compromise that will give dairy farms more time to comply with the new regulations. Critics have expressed concerns the new regulations will result in an increase in the price of milk from California cows. Proponents of the bill say methane emissions have...

California’s attempt to curb emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is facing vocal opposition from a dairy industry that fears government meddling in the flatulence of its cows. The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has set a goal of slashing methane emissions by 40% by 2030, from 2013 levels, and has targeted the belching and farting – known as “enteric fermentation” – of California’s 5.5 million beef and dairy cows, as well as the manure they create. A strategy document produced by the regulator states that improved manure management practices, new diets for cattle and “gut microbial interventions”...

Let no one say that India isn't doing its bit to fight global climate change: Government scientists are working hard to reduce carbon emissions by making cows less gassy. Consider the numbers: India is home to more than 280 million cows, and 200 million more ruminant animals like sheep, goats, yaks and buffalo. Scientists at the Cow Research Institute in Mathura, around 100 miles south of New Delhi, are tinkering with cattle feed, seeking a formula that will create less gas for the cows to belch out. But a team of researchers in the southern state of Kerala is working...

East Setauket [Long Island, NY] farmer, Bob Benner and his family have learned to live off their 15 acres of land since 1977. "We learned, made, and had our own heat. We made our own food. We made our own clothing. We raised a garden," he said. With six mouths to feed on a tight budget, Benner began raising certain farm animals as a source of food. Over the years, Benner's farm has evolved into a popular attraction for strawberry picking, birthday parties, and class trips for kids. Which is how Kimberly Sherriton, a mother from Commack, got involved with...

Last week, the FDA announced it would investigate the use of manure and other biological matter. Manure is animal poop. Rich in nutrients, it's been used by farmers as fertilizer for thousands of years. But the agency is skeptical of the safety of the practice. "The FDA is planning to conduct a risk assessment to determine how much consumer health is put at risk by the use of raw manure as fertilizer in growing crops covered by the final [Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)] Produce Safety rule, and what can be done to help prevent people from getting sick," the...

This year, a Chinese company plans to open a massive factory to clone 100,000 cows. Just how far will this mass reproductive technology go? Two decades after the birth of Dolly the sheepâ€”the worldâ€™s first successfully cloned mammalâ€”the year 2016 will likely see the rise of mass-produced animal clones, thanks to an enterprising and madcap scientist in China. Sometime in the next year, a company called Boyalife Genomics will open a massive factory in the coastal Chinese city of Tianjin, where it plans to clone 100,000 cattle per yearâ€”a way to address the Middle Kingdomâ€™s rising appetite for beef. Eventually,...

The roar of Super Dave Mathieson's aerobatic aircraft has been grounded over noise complaints. The full-time air show pilot, who made Chilliwack his home base a few years ago, received notification from Transport Canada earlier this month that he could no longer perform the aerobatics under 2000 feet at Chilliwack Airport, citing proximity to "noise sensitive or livestock" areas.

Scientists in the Netherlands are one step closer to producing a viable lab-grown alternative to the conventional beef burger patty. Last year, Professor Mark Post and his team of scientists at the Maastricht University in the Netherlands produced the first prototype of a lab-grown burger. Benefits of this new burger production method include a decrease in animal slaughter, savings in land, water, and energy use required for livestock, and a reduction in greenhouse gases. The project has faced several hurdles, though, not the least of which was the enormous price tag of 250,000 Euros, or $273,000. That was roughly how...

Despite environmentalists’ worries, cattle don’t guzzle water or cause hunger—and can help fight climate change People who advocate eating less beef often argue that producing it hurts the environment. Cattle, we are told, have an outsize ecological footprint: They guzzle water, trample plants and soils, and consume precious grains that should be nourishing hungry humans. Lately, critics have blamed bovine burps, flatulence and even breath for climate change. As a longtime vegetarian and environmental lawyer, I once bought into these claims. But now, after more than a decade of living and working in the business—my husband, Bill, founded Niman Ranch...

Loren Grush, Popular Science August 18, 2014The Lone Star tick. Mike Abley will always remember the last hamburger he ever ate. It was more than 20 years ago, and he recalls the meat being particularly juicy and delicious. But a few hours after dinner, Abley started itching like mad. He burst into hives, his tongue swelled, and he eventually passed out, prompting his wife to call 911. At the hospital, doctors determined he had gone into anaphylactic shock—a potentially deadly allergic reaction. Fortunately, Abley pulled through, and he later met with an allergist to determine what had caused the terrifying...

Angry farmers from Fukushima brought a large cow to the centre of Tokyo on Friday to demand Japan's government investigate a disease they say cattle have developed since the nuclear disaster three years ago. Operators of non-profit "Kibo no Bokujo", or "Farm of Hope", delivered a full-size black cow to the front of the agriculture ministry to demand an investigation into why it and many other animals have developed white dots on their skin since reactors went into meltdown

FORT WORTH — Authorities are not allowing longhorns with the Fort Worth Herd to roam on the new Chisholm Trail Parkway during a weekend of festivities to open the tollway. Seems the North Texas Tollway Authority has decided the road is for cars, not cattle. The 28-mile toll road, named after the historical cattle trails that led to Oklahoma, Kansas and beyond in the mid-1800s, is scheduled to open to traffic Sunday. It will connect Interstate 30 near downtown Fort Worth to U.S. 67 in Cleburne. Crews will open one on- and off-ramp at a time beginning about 8 a.m....

Land Management: A Chinese solar farm that fries birds is OK, as is redrawing tortoise habitat boundaries to benefit political donors. But an American rancher grazing his cattle brings feds with sniper rifles. It appears Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy has, at least temporarily, wonhis "range war" with the paramilitary wing of the Bureau of Land Management. Fearing another Waco, BLM has announced it will no longer enforce a court order and stop stealing Bundy's cows, called "trespass cattle" by the feds, accused of grazing free on part of the 84% of Nevada that is federal property.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Methane gas from 90 flatulent cows exploded in a German farm shed on Monday, damaging the roof and injuring one of the animals, police said. High levels of the gas .. the central German town of Rasdorf, .. "a static electric charge caused the gas to explode with flashes of flames,".. ...

A proposed Maryland bill would restore the right of the statesâ€™ citizens to participate in cow shares, or cow boarding, to obtain raw milk. Maryland citizens lost the right to raw milk via cow shares in 2006, when the appointed director of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene redefined the word â€śsaleâ€ť to include agistments. A hearing on the bill is scheduled for January 28 at 1:00pm at the Lowe House Office Building in Annapolis. Cow shares or cow boarding refers to a practice in which people buy shares in individual animals for a portion of the milk...

Does your dairy herd get skittish every time you hit the milking parlor drenched in Drakkar Noir? Does a splash of Hugo by Hugo Boss have your flock of sheep heading for the hills? If so, the answer to your fragrance faux pas may well be Portland General Store's new Farmer's Cologne. When I first caught wind of the cologne -- made by the same Maine-based company that makes manly grooming products like tobacco-scented beard oil, whiskey-scented aftershave and a soap called "Hunting Camp" -- I was intrigued by the notion that the potion was formulated to be "aromatherapeutic and...

STJARNHOV, Sweden, - Police in Sweden said they are searching for 69 cows that vanished from a farm on the day they were to be slaughtered. Farmer Claes Roempke, 47, of Stjarnhov, said he was baffled by the disappearance of the cows, which he valued at about $107,600, Swedish news agency TT/The Local.se reported Friday. "When I opened the gate, I saw the animals were gone," Roempke said. "I have no idea where they've been taken. I hope they are alive and are OK." Police said they are investigating the incident. "We have the ID number of all the cows...

It's not just millionaires and billionaires who are fleeing the economic madness in California. Even cows are starting to depart for greener pastures. That's right, 400 bovine refugees shuffled off to Kansas just this month, with more expected to follow as over 100 dairy farms in California close their doors. Why are cows voting with their hooves? It's hard to find a government program as insane as the complex web of price supports, market orders, direct payments, diversion programs, herd reductions, import barriers, export subsidies, and stacked-to-the-rafters cheese warehouses that characterize Uncle Sam's efforts to "rationally manage" the dairy market....

A genetically modified cow that produces milk less likely to cause allergic reactions has been engineered by New Zealand scientists. Up to 3% of infants are allergic to cows' milk in their first year of life. The modified cow produced milk without beta-lactoglobulin - a whey protein to which some people are allergic. The study has been labelled a "milestone" by one scientist, but some campaign groups say it raises ethical concerns. There are important differences between a woman's breast milk and cows' milk, such as beta-lactoglobulin, which is found in milk from cows but not people. The researchers, at...

ANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Mike Yoder's herd of dairy cattle are living the sweet life. With corn feed scarcer and costlier than ever, Yoder increasingly is looking for cheaper alternatives -- and this summer he found a good deal on ice cream sprinkles. "It's a pretty colorful load," said Yoder, who operates about 450 dairy cows on his farm in northern Indiana. "Anything that keeps the feed costs down." As the worst drought in half a century has ravaged this year's U.S. corn crop and driven corn prices sky high, the market for alternative feed rations for beef and...

At least four dairies in Oregon's Willamette Valley have bought into the "new thing" in dairy farming: buying waterbeds for their cows. "There's four or five dairies in the Willamette Valley that have them. It's really beginning to catch on around here," Kevin Krous with NW Dairy Service told KGW The cow waterbed trend reportedly first began in Minnesota but is now starting to catch on the West Coast. For example, the Van Loon Dairy has purchased more than 300 such beds for their cows, at a cost of more than $100,000. "As the cow gets ready to lie down,...

<p>ASPEN, Colo. -- Federal forest officials are thinking of using hand saws to break up the carcasses of frozen cows that died inside a cabin at 11,000 feet near Aspen.</p>
<p>The U.S. Forest Service had been exploring whether to burn the cabin or blow it up with explosives to get rid of the cabin and the cows. But a plan explored this week involves using hand saws to cut up carcasses of six cows frozen inside the cabin and four or five buried in the snow outside.</p>

DENVER — It may take explosives to dislodge a group of cows that wandered into an old ranger cabin high in the Rocky Mountains, then died and froze solid when they couldn't get out. The carcasses were discovered by two Air Force Academy cadets when they snow-shoed up to the cabin in late March. Rangers believe the animals sought shelter during a snowstorm and got stuck and weren't smart enough to find their way out. The cabin is located near the Conundrum Hot Springs, a nine-mile hike from the Aspen area in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness area. Michael Carroll, a...

WORLDWIDE E"COW"NOMICS - explained at last!SOCIALISM You have 2 cows. You give one to your neighbour. COMMUNISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk. FASCISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk. NAZISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you. BUREAUCRATISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away. TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and...

Transportation officials closed a section of Interstate 69/Western Kentucky Parkway for hours Saturday after a group of cows obstructed the roadway causing several collisions in Caldwell County. Spokesman Keith Todd for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said he was first alerted of the situation around 3:45 a.m. and that there were “an undetermined number of cows loose along Interstate 69.” By 7 a.m., some of the cattle had been rounded up but officials decided to close the Interstate between Exit 12 and Exit 24 near Princeton. Todd said only one motorist had been taken to Methodist Hospital for minor injuries after...

Kazakhstan flies in US cows to boost beef industryAssociated Press Updated Monday, Oct 10 at 12:01 PM BISMARCK, North Dakota (AP) — Hundreds of North Dakota cows bred to withstand brutal cold are being shipped in jumbo jets to Kazakhstan to help build the nation's beef industry. **SNIP** North Dakota is known for its harsh winters and hardy livestock, Price said. North Dakota cows typically have thicker coats and more marbling and fatty tissue, state agriculture officials say. More than 2,600 pregnant cows and heifers were shipped last year on Boeing 747 freighters from North Dakota to Astana, the capital...

There was a time when having sex with a woman meant a wedding ring, a court ship or at the very least, dinner. But social psychologists say those days are quickly coming to an end as women become more promiscuous, Yahoo Shine reports. -snip- Other things that are said to have contributed to these changes include gender equality, birth control and internet porn.

MAGNOLIA, WI — John Adams can’t see the nearly 3,000 cows on the dairy farm two miles from his Wisconsin home, but when the wind blows he can smell them. The stench gives him and his wife headaches. They blame the big farm for contaminating their air and polluting the groundwater well they use for drinking, bathing and watering their garden. They no longer feel safe eating the vegetables they grow. Adams also blames the state, which requires local governments to grant permits to large farms that meet certain limited criteria, even if there are additional environmental concerns. The rural...

Two things you guys. First, this video is very cute. Second, watching these cattle follow the remote-control car reminds me of how the Left operates. Except the cattle smell better and have a superior intellect.

Those raw milk proponents advocating "teach, teach, teach" may want to enroll Wisconsin Judge Patrick J. Fiedler in their first class--in the kindergarten section. In response to a request from the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, the judge issued a clarification of his decision last week regarding his assessment of the constitutionality of food rights. The judge expanded on his original statement that such constitutional issues are "wholly without merit." He explained that the FTCLDF arguments were "extremely underdeveloped." As an example, he said the plaintiffs' use of the Roe v Wade abortion rights case as a precedent does "not explain...

411 more cows in Fukushima found to have been fed cesium-tainted straw+ Jul 18 05:53 AM US/Eastern straw+ (AP) - FUKUSHIMA, Japan, July 18 (Kyodo)—Seven more farms in Fukushima Prefecture fed their beef cattle rice straw contaminated with radioactive cesium, bringing a total of about 411 more cows suspected of having been exposed to the isotope into the nation's beef distribution chain, the Fukushima prefectural government said Monday. Of the cows shipped from the farms, 199 went to Tokyo, 192 to Hyogo Prefecture, nine to Gunma Prefecture, eight within Fukushima Prefecture, two to Tochigi Prefecture and one to Saitama Prefecture....

Cass Sunstein is head of something called the "Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs." I've seen enough conspiracy thrillers to know that when someone has so obvious a blandly amorphous federal job description as that it means he's running some deeply sinister wet-work operation of illegal targeted assassinations in unfriendly nations that the government spooks want to keep off the books and far from prying eyes.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Australia's huge cattle herd in the north might be burping less planet-warming methane emissions than thought, a study released on Friday shows, suggesting the cows are more climate friendly. Cattle, sheep and other ruminant livestock produce large amounts of methane, which is about 20 times more powerful at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. One cow can produce about 1.5 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year. Half of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture and most of that is from sheep and cattle. Most of the cattle and sheep emissions are, contrary to popular belief,...

Elma, Wash. (AP) -- Laurel Gordon of Washington state has been putting on a tiara to promote milk products the past two years as Grays Harbor County's dairy ambassador. The funny thing is, the 18-year-old from Elma is a lactose intolerant dairy princess. The Daily World of Aberdeen reports that unless Gordon takes special pills, her body is unable to digest milk, so she drinks soy milk.

A man dressed in a cow suit managed to rob a busy Stafford, Virginia Walmart of 26 gallons of milk on Tuesday night before being nabbed by the cops. Apparently, the cow-suited criminal escaped the megastore by crawling out the doors, "trying to emulate cattle." He then began handing out the stolen jugs right outside the store before making his escape, in a sort of bovine interpretation of Robin Hood. Stafford County Sheriff's office spokesman, Bill Kennedy, tells us that he believes the cow suit did not entirely cover the suspect's face, making him easy to spot at the near-by...

Flatulent cows are not a laughing matter. (Pause.) OK, they are a laughing matter. And flatulent sheep and goats are almost as funny — though not to the chickens and pigs in the pen next door. But pull-my-hoof livestock are a problem too. The emissions produced by nature's woodwind section contain a nasty mix of many gasses, among them methane. Though carbon dioxide is the first gas that comes to mind when we think of greenhouse emissions, pound for pound, methane is more than 20 times more powerful in terms of its global warming potential. Methane doesn't linger in the...

LONDON (Reuters) – New diets for cows and sheep could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, research funded by the Department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) shows. Feeding the animals maize silage, naked oats and higher sugar grasses could reduce the amount of methane they produce, the study by Reading University and the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences showed. Agriculture accounts for around nine per cent of all British greenhouse gas emissions. Most of this comes from sheep, cows and goats. Farming accounts for 41 per cent of Britain's overall methane emissions, which are harmful to the...

Having read the history of Smallpox and the types of vaccine used in experimentation, I would like to debate on whether or not cowpox would be a better alternative than using the vaccine procedures that use live vaccine. Cowpox was after all the first vaccine used against Smallpox and wouldn't it be easier to gather and use, with a lower risk of failure or accidential infection with a fully active virus that would result in a full blown infection?

Bovine withstands bullets, truck ramming after attack on rancherAn elderly Fort Pierce man's run-in with an apparently unkillable cow on New Year's Day sent him to the hospital in critical condition. The drama unfolded Saturday when 70-year-old Oscar Wilcox was working on a fence at his St. Lucie County ranch, according to tcplam.com. When Wilcox's wife heard him scream, she drove to the pasture and saw the cow attacking him. The cow, which had already been shot at least once by Wilcox with a .22 caliber pistol, wasn't going down without a fight. To get it off her husband, Wilcox's...

A Tale of Two Cows OLD DEMOCRAT: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful. Barbara Streisand sings for you. OLD REPUBLICAN: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So? NEW DEMOCRAT: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. But you don’t want him in your gated community disturbing your pastoral environment. You convince him to elect you so that a third neighbor, who has one cow, will be forced to provide him with free milk. NEW REPUBLICAN: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You convince him to milk both...

NAIROBI (AFP) – Climate change can be curbed by changing the diet of livestock, whose feed crops, farting, belching and manure contribute a fifth of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions, a new study said Friday. The study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) said livestock risk growing as global demand for meat and milk surges and recommended simple steps to curb livestock-related greenhouse gas emissions. It recommended using more nutritious pasture grasses, supplementing diets with crop residues, restoring degraded grazing lands and adopting more productive breeds, among other simple measures for tropical countries. ... The scientists said the burden...

Yesterday’s story on the “Cry Wolf” project has exposed a dangerous pretense that has been prevalent, yet well disguised, for some time in our institutions of higher learning. It’s an important post. A small committee of professors and academic professionals, normally held in high regard, have blatantly betrayed the trust of the public and quite possibly smeared the reputations of all colleges and universities nationwide. By soliciting “paid activists” to create research papers that are intentionally designed to silence opposing viewpoints, they have undermined the political system and manipulated the governmental policy making process. And in the meantime, they’ve also...

Glenn Beck vs. Joel Rogers, King of the Progressives If Fox News commentator, Glenn Beck is right, Joel Rogers may be the man behind Obama and the entire Progressive Movement. Not a far stretch as Progressives got their start in Wisconsin, where Joel teaches law, political science and sociology at the University of Wisconsin. Thursday morning, Joel was a featured speaker at an Earth Day conference in Chicago on public transportation. Needless to say, he’s all for it! But Beck has connected the dots on his magic blackboards (He needs about three or four now, at least!) as he ties...